Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

The hands-down easiest method I know for how to hard boil eggs! These Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs are quick to prepare, easy to peel, and wonderfully reliable every time.

*This recipe has been updated in September 2019. Some of you reported that your Instant Pots needed a bit longer to cook the eggs, so the recipe now includes an extra 5 minutes of natural release before using the quick release.*

When it comes to making hard boiled eggs, I’m now Team Instant Pot all the way. ♡

Quite simply, the Instant Pot just takes 100% of the guesswork out of making the perfect hard-boiled eggs. No need to babysit the stove, or deal with a huge pot of boiling water, or cross your fingers that the eggs are boiling for the correct amount of time. Nope — once you have placed the eggs and water into the Instant Pot, it will handle the rest of the cooking for you. And for some magical reason, Instant Pot hard boiled eggs are also surprisingly easy to peel afterwards too. Bonus!

Of course, if you don’t yet have an Instant Pot in your kitchen, this traditional stovetop hard boiled eggs method still works like a charm. But I switched over to making my hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot a few years ago. And it’s so ridiculously easy and reliable that I’ve never looked back. Here’s how I make mine!

Hard Boiled Egg Ingredients:

The ingredient list here couldn’t be easier. To make this Instant Pot hard boiled eggs recipe, you simply need:

Eggs: Between 2-12 large eggs.

Water: One cup, if you’re using a 6-quart Instant Pot.

How To Hard Boil Eggs:

Prep: Place the steaming rack on the bottom of your IP. Pour in a cup of water, arrange the eggs in an even layer (you don’t want them overlapping in order to ensure even cooking), then cover and seal the lid.

Cook: 5* minutes on (“Manual”) high pressure. Wait for 5 more minutes (natural release). Then release the valve (quick release).

Ice bath: Transfer the eggs immediately and carefully to an ice bath and let them cool off for another 5 minutes.

Peel and enjoy: Then peel and enjoy!

*I’ve only tested the cooking time for a 6-quart Instant Pot. It may vary with different sizes/brands of pressure cookers.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs FAQ:

How long do hard boiled eggs last? Up to a week in the fridge, if they are unpeeled. Or up to 4 days if they are peeled.

How long to hard boil eggs vs. soft boil eggs? In the Instant Pot, cook the eggs for 5 minutes to hard boil or 3 minutes to soft boil, followed by 5 minutes of natural release, followed by a quick release.

How to peel hard boiled eggs? Just give the egg a gentle tap or roll on the counter to break the shell. Then loosen and peel off the shell with your fingers.

Do older eggs work better? I’ve found this to be the case with the stovetop method, but the Instant Pot seems to be more forgiving. I often use just-purchased eggs for this method and they always turn out great!

What size of Instant Pot do you use? I have only tested this method on the 6-quart Instant Pot that I own. Cooking times/amounts may vary with a different size or brand of pressure cooker. (<– And cooking time will definitely vary with a stovetop pressure cooker.)

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Description

The hands-down easiest method I know for how to hard boil eggs! These Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs are quick to prepare, easy to peel, and wonderfully reliable every time.

Scale

Ingredients

12 eggs

1 cup water

Instructions

Place the steaming rack in the bottom of a 6-quart Instant Pot*. Pour in the water, then arrange the eggs in an even layer on the rack. Cover and set the valve to “sealing.”

Set to cook on “Manual” high pressure for 5 minutes. Once the timer goes off, wait another 5 minutes (the timer should begin counting back up as the pressure naturally releases). Then carefully set the valve to “venting” to quick-release the remaining pressure. (I recommend placing a towel over the vent when you first turn the valve to cover the steam.

Once all of the pressure has vented, remove the lid and carefully transfer the eggs to an ice bath (a bowl filled with water and lots of ice) for 5 minutes to cool the eggs down.

Peel and enjoy immediately. Or refrigerate the peeled eggs in a sealed container for up to 1 week.

Notes

*Cooking time is for the traditional 6-quart Instant Pot. Cooking time may vary for different sizes or brands of pressure cookers.

*Recipe updated September 2019 to include an extra 5 minutes of natural release. Some of you had reported that your eggs needed longer to cook, and I find the extra 5 minutes of natural release works well.

39 comments on “Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs”

I am an awesome cook especially when it comes to Morroccan and Mediterranean dishes. People always ask me to write a book or be on YouTube. I am writing this to let your followers know that there absolutely no need to purchase a hard boiled eggs pot. It is a waste of money and one more item to clutter your kitchen.
All you need to do is put your eggs in cold water with a cover on, boil and turn off your stove. The eggs will be ready within 10 minutes. Run the eggs in cold water, roll each one on your counter and viola they will peel instantly.

Dina, Ali didn’t say you had to buy an IP in order to make hard boiled eggs. This is simply another way to make hard boiled eggs. I have an IP. I know how to make hard boiled eggs on the stove. I didn’t want to deal with hot boiling water today, so I looked up how to do make them in the IP. Your comment is so rude and unnecessary.

Ali, so glad to see this recipe! I love my IP and use it several times a week, especially in the winter since we must cook inside (summers are for grilling every possible meal). I started making HC eggs in my IP and love the ease and the results. No more green yolks, cracked shells and over or undercooked eggs. So far I’ve only made 7 using the little round cups in the rack since I make one for each day – must have my protein every morning. Now I can make deviled eggs more often and will try boiling 1 dozen next time I make them.

One of my favorite uses for the instant pot. I get farm fresh eggs which are notoriously difficult to peel and have tried everything including baking soda in the water without success. Every egg peels perfectly! (even when my husband is recruited to help)

Not a reason to purchase an instant pot but just one of many great uses for one.

We have the 8-qt Instant Pot Duo. For that you need 1.5 cups of water, and we’ve found that we prefer 6 minutes at low pressure, as this yields a creamier yolk than high pressure. Some might experiment with even less time, but that’s how we like them.

Since we’re in America, we use eggs straight from the fridge. I also experimented with setting a timer for an hour on the Instant Pot to let the eggs come to room temp before cooking, but frankly I couldn’t notice much difference in the result.

Thank you for the tip, Curtis.
This was perfect in my 6-Qt Nova+
I like using the lower pressure much more than the higher pressure. Next time I’m going to try it at 5 minutes. They are shockingly perfect … and cannot believe they peel so easily.

I cooked 8 eggs for 5 minutes on high pressure, ice bathed them, but when i took them out to peel they were still semi-liquid and the shell pulled chunks of egg with it. I put them back in, set to cook for 3 more minutes, and then ice bathed them again. This time i was able to get most of the shell off with no damage to the white of the egg, but when i was almost finished peeling the egg it split in half in my hand and there was still liquid around the yolk. Has anyone else had issues with this?

Thank you for hard boiled egg recipe. I’m an old dog(80) learning new tricks with great trepidation. It took me 4 months to open the box and more time to bite the bullet. I’m a big fan of beans from scratch and the IP is miraculous. Minutes instead of hours. The eggs are a quick lazy protein for days that my get up and go has got up and went. Still looking forward to more IP recipes that tickle my fancy. Thanks again. BJ Geraghty

The same thing happened to me. I don’t know how this is working for anyone :/ other recipes I’ve found have you put it on high pressure for 5 minutes, let it do a 5 minute natural release, THEN quick release. That worked perfectly for me.

I found that they needed more cook time. They were runny after I took them out of the ice bath. Next time I will do a natural pressure release for 5 minutes before putting them in an ice bath. I used an egg rack with one egg per slot.

Didn’t work for me. At 5 minutes the eggs were runny and the yolks were still liquid. Weren’t much better after 3 more minutes. I’m going to try again, but with a longer cook time and slow release. So far I’m finding my Instant Pot is taking longer to cook everything than estimated in recipes.

I recently purchased an IP and tonite, wanted to try making hard boiled eggs as a co-worker of mine mentioned they are so much better in the IP. First of all, couldn’t believe how incredibly easy it was to make vs boiling water, putting lid, letting sit, etc. I boil eggs weekly b/c I need to have my protein during the day/week. My sister and her hubby happened to be visiting from NJ and were at my house so I wanted to try out your recipe w/ my IP. Everyone agreed, hands down, that the IP made the most creamy hard boiled egg – the yolk was incredible! I can only imagine making deviled eggs! We were pleasantly surprised – great recipe. Thank you for sharing! This is the only way I will ever boil eggs again :0)

I am surprised that anyone says this works. The yokes were still runny. I have been using an alternate recipe that said to pressure cook for 5 minutes and then wait for another 5 before putting the eggs in the ice bath. This overcooked the eggs a bit, but I switched it to wait for 3 minutes and it works great.

So easy!! I just started using an instant pot and my husband likes hard boiled eggs for breakfast. This was super easy and my husband said the eggs came out perfect. I don’t like eggs but will say that they were super easy to peel making them this way. Sometimes on the stove they are hard to peel and get kind of crumbly. Thank you for a great alternative to stove top hard boiled eggs!